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THE 



T_j.^ST o^^a^p^.a.io-:n 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 

N. G., S. N. Y. 



j-TjasTE^ ^f^isrr> jTJiL"^, ises 



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iS" c ui i) I- Is : 

U. S. WESTCUTT it CO., I' IM N T i: Jl S 
X<i . 7!i .III II N Sthi:i:t. 

1^04. 




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Kntered acooi'ding to tlie act of Congress, in the year 1S04, 

Bv GEORGE W. WINGATK, 

in the Clerk's office of the District Cjurt of the United States' for tne Southera District of 

New York. 



^A ^^ 



THE LAST CAMPAIGN 



OF THE 



fluniti|-$rconl) |iC[(nncnt !);.§., .S^'l^i- 



On the 18tli of June, 1863, it having been definitely ascer- 
tained that the rebel horde had invaded Pennsylvania in 
force, the call of the President was issued to the Empire 
State, and her militia, leaving everything as it stood — their 
books unclosed, their ploughs in the furrow — hurried eagerly 
forward in response, to unite in the defence of our sister 
State. All day long blue and gray uniforms were dashing 
frantically backward and forward through the streets, and 
in and out of the various armories of the city, in search of 
essentials found missing at the last moment ; and in mili- 
tary circles the flurry and commotion were indescribable, 
particularly at the Palace Garden in Fourteenth street, 
where the Twenty-second regiment N. G., S. N. Y., as- 
sembling in great haste, were preparing to be '' off to the 
war" on their second campaign. 

At last the manifold preparations were completed, and 
amid tumultuous cheering, the fluttering of handkerchiefs, 
the ringing of bells, and the thousand bewildering noises 
of an enthusiastic crowd, the regiment formed and marched 
away — where to, none knew and none cared, so long as they 
were doing their country a service. 



4 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

That night was spent in the cattle-cars of the Camden 
and Amhoy Kailroad, and the next mornino; found us en- 
tering the City of Brotherly Love, through which, after 
being fed and washed at the immortal " Cooper Shoj)," we 
took our way for the capital of the state, cheered on by an 
enthusiastic ovation from the citizens, whose noble behavior 
and unstinted hospitality to the thousands of soldiers who 
have passed through the city since the beginning of the war, 
has obtained for Philadelphia the well-earned reputation of 
being the most patriotic city in the Union. 

The distance from New York to Harrisburg, I believe, 
may be usually traversed in about eight hours, but (as there 
was a great need of men), the regiment was kept precisely 
tliree days in cattle-cars before being deposited at its destina- 
tion, no insignificant omen of the fate that awaited its mem- 
bers in the future. Finally, after an immensity of tribula- 
tion, we got to Harrisburg, and spent the last of these three 
days quietly lying alongside of Camp Curtin ; this camp, 
so celebrated in Pennsylvania annals, is a wide level expanse, 
in the vicinity of the city, and was then crowded with the 
newly-raised militia, whose general appearance and con- 
dition did not inspire us with that exalted idea of their 
efficiency that the newspapers seemed to have ; on the con- 
trary, it seemed to us, that a more indiiferent, lazy, uncouth- 
looking set never was seen outside of rebeldom ; but as 
their ideas of hospitality toward us were demonstrated in 
copperhead talk and chaffing us with hard names, these views 
may be prejudiced. At some distance from Camp Curtin, 
however, were a couple of batteries and some troops from 
Philadelphia, who really looked like soldiers, and whose 
appearance inspired the '' Yorkers" with a feeling of respect 
which further acquaintance did not dispel. 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 5 

But notwithstamliug the society, the time hung heavy on 
our hands, and it was no small relief, when, during the latter 
part of the afternotm, we were sent across the Susquehanna, 
some of us into the fortifications, and the others, including 
the Twenty-second, to camps in the different places near the 
river to protect the various approaches and fords in the 
neighborhood of the city. 

It was growing dusky as we arrived at our selected camp- 
grounds, and, as it Avas a singular characteristic of the 
climate of Pennsylvania during our brief sojourn, that dark- 
ness is synonymous with rain (for the sun scarcely ever went 
down before the elements were imitating the movement), it 
accordingly commenced to rain, and by the time it was fau-ly 
dark a heavy storm was raging. 

Fortunately, an immense empty barn was at hand, into 
which the regiment wedged themselves, like sardines in a box, 
so tight, in fact, that those unfortunates who happened to 
find themselves under a leak in the roof— and there were 
manv such — had to remain quiet under tlieir douche, and 
take it coolly for tlie whole night. The Eleventh and one or 
two other regiments, being without either barn or tents, were 
obliged to sleep in the woods all niglit without any protec- 
tion whatever, and were consequently regarded as suffer- 
ing martyrs by all the rest of us, who wondered how they 
could possibly have lived through it. 

Little did those think who shuddered when they talked 
about sleeping in the rain without cover, that in a very 
short time they would be doing that very thing themselves, 
and come to regard it as a mere matter of course, incon- 
venient to be sure, but so commonplace as to be hardly 
worth mentioning. 

The next morning, having pitched our tents, we entered 
upon the usual routine of camp life, humdrum to the last 



6 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

extent. Hot as an oven, stupid and monotonous as a prison, 
the first few days passed quietly enough. It is true that the 
roofs and spires of the capital of Pennsylvania, which we had 
come to defend, were in plain sight, but a very few visits 
there, combined with the chilling reception we received in 
passing through it, put an effectual quietus on our hopes of 
the good time that was coming. Little bills, and big stories 
of little bills, for necessary purchases ; fifteen cents for a cup 
of (rye) coffee, and other things in proportion, the general 
indifference of the inhabitants as to which side won in the 
contest which was impending, and the other annoyances 
which have been so fully ventilated in the New York news- 
papers, in a very short time destroyed the clamor for passes, 
and rendered useless the complicated system of signatures 
which had been devised to prevent the expected rush for 
those documents. 

By- and-by we were regaled by perusing in the New York 
papers the most astounding accounts of the dangers of our 
position, and of the uprising of Pennsylvania ; unquestion- 
ably it was all true, but we hadn't seen anything of the kind 
yet. Still, while laughing over much that we read, we could 
not help noticing, that as time wore on, a stream of skedad- 
dlers, small at first, but rapidly increasing, was sweeping 
by the camp ; and in a short time crowds of able-bodied 
natives, driving their flocks and herds, and followed by 
wagons heaped mountain high with their most precious 
household goods, blocked up every road leading into the city, 
and showed that the enemy were rapidly approaching. 

Things, however, remained quiet, as far as we were con- 
cerned, but it was only the quiet which portends the storm. 
A night alarm, caused by the guard and pickets firing on 
spies escaping from the camp under cover of the darkness, 
more spies, both male and female, in the guard-house, more 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 7 

cattle, more scared natives rushing by as though a second 
exodus was at hand, soon put us on the alert. 

On Saturday, the 27th of June, that portion of the regi- 
ment not on picket was liastily marched down the turnpike, 
and set at work throwing up a line of rifle pits, to cover the 
road up which the enemy were now rapidly advancing, report 
said, only four miles off ; but as companies (Capt. Post), 
and G (Capt. Howland), had been previously sent some five 
miles down the same road as pickets, and had not yet been 
driven in, we took these figures with a slight discount. 
There was no question, however, but that they were near 
enough, and we dug away for dear life, from eleven a. m. 
to two P. M. (and the Sixty-ninth may be safely defied to 
produce a bigger hole than we had finished at that time); 
and in consideration of these unparalleled exertions, those 
in authority kindly allowed us to rest our wearied limbs — 
by chopping down a good-sized forest, which interfered with 
the range of the artillery. 

Now, digging rifle pits in a hot sun is so very much like 
excavating a sewer, that axe-work was fun itself compared 
with it, so the boys, dropping thoir spades for axes, went 
to work with a vim, Col. Aspinwall himself setting the ex- 
ample, while each company did its best to outdo the others ; 
and soon the big hickories, two and three feet in diameter, 
were crashing in all directions, shaking the very ground with 
their fall. This, by-thc-by, was the "heavy cannonading at 
Harrisburg," which was telegraphed on to the New York 
papers, where it greeted our wondering eyes in print the next 
afternoon. 

0/ course the people of the vicinity lent their experienced 
arms to assist in obstructing the march of the enemy ; the 
deputation of patriots present, up to seven o'clock p. m., 
numbering precisely four (and two of these were blacks, but 



8 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

none the worse clioppers for that). After that hour, through 
the earnest solicitations of a guard despatched by Colonel 
Aspinwall, whose fixed bayonets presented an unanswerable 
argument, the surrounding male population volunteered (?) 
their aid and axes towards the completion of the work, while 
the tired troops sought their tents to sleep. 

No alarm broke the stillness of the night, and the regi- 
ment assembled the next (Sunday) morning in front of the 
Colonel's tent for religious services, feeling rather more dis- 
posed to be pious than usual, for none knew what might 
occur before another day was passed. 

Those services never took place. The men were assembled, 
the prayer-books distributed, the Chaplain had risen and was 
on the point of announcing his text, when the Colonel dashed 
up at full gallop, with the order — " Go back to your com- 
pany 'streets,' and strike tents at once !" 

The men rushed back to their quarters, and preparations 
for breaking camp went on in the greatest possible haste, in 
the midst of which the Chaplain disappeared for parts un- 
known, and we never laid eyes on him from that day to this. 

Company D (Capt. Thornell) was here ordered down to 
relieve the companies on picket, and in obedience to subse- 
quent orders threw up a line of rifle-pits across the road, to 
defend the position to which they had been ordered ; where 
they remained, lying on their arms, until they were called in 
on the morning of the 30th, 

In a few minutes the camp was struck, and we were march- 
ing off, little thinking, as we took our leave of the pleasant 
spot where our nice new tents were being loaded in wagons 
pressed for the occasion, of the length of time that would 
elapse before our heads would get under their (or any other) 
shelter again — perhaps, if vvchad, tlie leave-taking would have 
been more affecting. 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT, 9 

While one half of the remaining portion of the regiment 
was ordered to hold the rifle-pits, the remainder marched to 
Bridgeport Station opposite Harrisburg, and proceeded to 
barricade several houses commanding the approaches to the 
beautiful railroad bridge erected at this point, with as much 
industry as though they had not done a thing for a week. 
Companies A (then commanded by Lieut. Franklin, Capt. 
Otis being temporarily absent) and I (Capt. Gardiner), with 
beams, barrels of earth, bundles of lath, railroad sleepers and 
sand-bags, by ten o'clock p. m., had converted the engine- 
house in which they were stationed into a loopholed and case- 
mated battery to protect two pieces of the Eighth N. Y. troop, 
plac3d there to ralce the railroad. In the more laborious 
parts of this work, lifting railroad sleepers and carrying sand- 
bags, they were assisted by a detachment of negroes from the 
large body at work on the fortifications, and it was really 
touching to see the patient, uncomplaining way in which 
these poor men worked. All the preceding night and day 
with scanty covering they had toiled, digging, carrying heavy 
beams and sand-bags, and though almost wearied out, with- 
out the slightest compulsion, without the use of a single harsh 
word from their overseer, they still continued. The white 
volunteers from Harrisburg had long since abandoned the toil- 
some work ; the weary soldiers stopped at nine o'clock ; but 
the negroes kept on. 

At twelve o'clock p. m., the Twenty-second and Thirty- 
seventh were cautiously awakened and marched stealthily out 
to cut off the enemy's advanced guard, reported to be recon- 
noitring in our front. It was an im])osing sight to seethe 
long coliiniu diiiily and silently winding <li)wn the roads and 
through the varying shadows of the night. Not a sound was 
heard — orders were given in a whis])er; and as we drew nearer 
the enemy's position, the silence was so profound (hat the 
heavy breathing of the men was distinctly audible. 



10 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

After a long march, whispered orders were passed down 
the Ihie, and amid a death-like silence we halted and formed 
line of battle, fixing bayonets, and freshly capping our pieces 
in readiness for instant service. Every eye was strained 
through the darkness to discern the patrols of the enemy in 
the w.ivoring shadows of the woods and fields, and every 
ear was stretched to its utmost tension to catch the expected 
challcucce. But the silence was unbroken, and after a few 
moments' halt the column proceeded, feeling their v/ay with 
the utmost caution, and expecting at every instant to hear 
the volley which would announce that the advanced pickets 
had been encountered ; but our caution was unnecessary, the 
enemy had fallen back and there was nothing to be seen. 
I |The movement was splendidly managed, and only wanted 
one thing to be a magnificent success, that was — an enemy. 
"■ As there wasn't anybody to be captured, we could not capture 
anybody ;" so after marching out some five miles past the 
pickets, we returned without seeing anything, and at five 
A. M. lay down by the railroad track to catch a few minutes' 
rest. Company B (Capt. Eemmey), were not allowed even 
this rest ; but were obliged to return to the picket station, 
down the New Cumberland road from which they had been 
recalled to join in the expedition, and which they did not 
reach until after seven o'clock. 

The next day was spent in line of battle, waiting for an 
attack ; but the rebels kindly allowed us to rest during the 
day, and to " turn in" at our usual hour at night, without 
molestation, for which we were exceedingly obliged to them. 

In tlie meantime the preparations for the defence of Har- 
risburg went on with all possible speed ; by this time the 
fortifications erected there were quite extensive, and it is 
probable that their looks went far toward dampening the 
ardor of the " Confeds." But it seemed to us that in 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 11 

tlie incessant hurry and bustle that were going on around, 
there was a great want of system ; that there was no great 
mind overseeing everything, and watching that the right man 
was in the right jjLice. Much of tliis is certainly unavoid- 
ahle, A general cannot see everytliing done with his own 
eyes, hut still the unusual manner in which things were 
managed — the rushing at a thing for half a day, then leav- 
ing that unfinished, and going at something else ; the sub- 
ordinates at a loss for orders, and almost every one doing 
what seemed right in his own eyes — was the subject of fre- 
quent comment, esjiccially among the " thinking bayonets" 
of the rank and file. But in justice it must be said that 
their opjiortunities cf judging were very limited. 

At about ten o'clock on the morning of the 30th of J une, 
an order came from the General commanding, for the Twenty- 
second and Thirty-seventh New York to prcjjare for a tivo- 
hours' march, nothing to be carried but canteens. A hasty 
roll of the drum, a few hurried orders from the company offi- 
cers, the line was formed, and in less than fifteen minutes 
the regiments were off, leaving everything behind them* 
They have not got back from that two liours' march yet ! 

After marching and counter-marching all over the country 
for some fourteen miles, the brigade, in the afternoon, en- 
countered the enemy near Sporting Hill or Hampden, and 
quite a smart engagement ensued, the Twenty-second, sup- 
ported by some Pennsylvania cavalry (who skedaddled at the 
fij-st shell), advancing through woods and wheat-fields on the 
left — Co. A (Capt. Otis), being detached as a reconnoitring 
party to cover that flank in the advance — while the Tliirty- 
seventh advanced on the right, as skirmishers, the IMiiladcl- 
jjhia battery having the centre. At first, a jjortion of the 
rebels, i)Osted in one of the immense barns for which Penn- 
sylvania is so ctlibratcd, was (nabhd to {innoy the liigude 



12 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

considerably, wounding a lieutenant and several others of 
the Thirty-seventh ; hut they were finally compelled to 
evacuate, and in a very short time their artillery was silenced, 
and they were in full retreat along the whole length of the 
line. This success must be ascribed in a great measure to 
the gallant conduct of the Philadelphia battery, which, as 
far as we were able to see, was unquestionably the most 
efficient of the organizations, that the invasion of her soil 
had elicited from Pennsylvania patriotism ; and in the eyes 
of our boys, the Philadelphians therefore stood very high. 

In this affair the rebels lost some fifteen killed, and twenty 
or thirty wounded (this being the account given by them- 
selves to the farmers in the vicinity). The Union loss was 
very slight, though, as usual, there were all sorts of semi- 
miraculous escapes. After a short j)^ii'suit, the approach 
of darkness admonished us of the necessity of caution ; a 
halt was therefore ordered, and in a short time orders came 
to go back to camp. Full of life and sj^irits, although 
considerably exhausted by the fatigues of the day, the bri- 
gade took up their line of march for Bridgeport. A wagon 
filled with provisions, belonging to the Twenty-second, had 
been sent out from the latter place to meet the column as 
soon as it was known that there had been a " scrimmage," 
and hearing of the return of the troops, those in charge 
had halted when some six miles out, and were busily engag- 
ed in preparing sitpper. Orders, however, were sent for- 
ward to repack and hurry everything back, so that the men 
would have supper ready on their arrival in camp. 

Supper ! how the word put fresh vigor into weary limbs, 
and kept up the flagging spirits. No one can know, till he 
has tried, what a difference it makes in the marching powers 
whether, after a prolonged fast, you are proceeding toivard 
your supper or aioay from it. 

While we were marching merrily along, suddenly the order 



TWENTY-SECOND- REGIMENT. 13 

came to halt I Best. And tlien it was discovered that, for 
some unknown reason, the powers that be had decreed that 
the brig-ade should spend the night where they were ; and 
there, drenched with j^erspiration, without rubber blankets, 
haversacks — anything, in the wet grass by the side of the 
road, in the midst of a drizzling rain, they lay down to sleep, 
about as uncomfortable as men could well be. 

When the Avagon came uji, a little coffee and hard tack 
were dealt out, but as this event did not take place till about 
two o'clock in the morning, the number of those who could 
keep awake to wait for it was very limited. At daylight in 
the morning, three crackers per man and no coffee comi)osed 
a light and frugal repast, on which we started on our first 
long march. 

At about four a. m., the regiments were massed in column to 
hear a speech from their Brigadier ; but it was lamentably 
evident that, however skilled in the art of war he might be, 
the mantle of eloquence had never fallen on his shoulders. 
He stated to the men that he had endured as much as they 
had, slept and eaten as little ; that he (on horseback) didn't 
feel tired, and therefore they (on foot) shouldn't ; that he 
(on horseback) could go to Carlisle, and therefore they 
could. 

Now as no one had objected, or in fact knew, that we Avere 
going to Carlisle at all, this assumption that we were trying 
to shirk our duty, at a time Avhen all Avero flattering them- 
selves for making extraordinary sacrifices, did not add many 
to the rapidly diminishing circle of the General's admirers. 

At the time of starting, and for some time afterwards, it 
was supposed that Carlisle was in possession of the rebels, 
and that Ave would have to fight our Avay through. Skir- 
mishers Avere therefore thrown out, and the column, compuscd 
of one (I) company of the Twenty-second as an advanced 



14 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

guard, another (B) company deployed as skirmisliers, then 
the Thirty-seventh and Twenty-second (Col. Eoome being 
senior to Col. Aspinwall) moved cautiously forward ; hut 
after going some five or six miles the skirmishers were drawn 
in, information having been received from paroled prisoners 
and farmers that the enemy had left the town (though their 
pickets were still in the immediate vicinity), and we pro- 
ceeded without any precautions whatever. 

The day was beautiful, though rapidly becoming too warm 
for comfort, and the route lay through a most lovely country. 
Scarcely anywhere can the eye rest on finer scenery, more 
beautiful fields, more comfortable houses, or more magnifi- 
cent barns (for magnificent is the only adjective applicable to 
those structures) than those of southern Pennsylvania. But 
alas ! the houses were deserted, the farms pillaged — every- 
thing of value, everything that could walk, or be eaten, 
or — stolen, was gone — swept away by the invader, and the 
peaceful population driven from their homes by the ruthless 
hand of war. 

A few hours' marching brought us past the scene of yes- 
terday's " scrimmage," and enlivened by the prospect of 
another fight, as the fatigue and stifiness of the previous 
night wore ofi", the echoes of song and laughter floated down 
the column, taken up and re-echoed from company to company 
till they died away in the distance, "and all went merry as a 
marriage bell" — for a time. 

The roads were good, the air pure, the halts frequent — 
there was nothing to find fault with. The people, hitherto 
the only objectionable feature of the country, were as kind 
and hos2)itable as we could desire ; and in Hogestown, a little 
village on the " pike," and all along the road, wherever 
there were occupied houses, the women (and very pretty 
women some of them were, too) turned out en masse, with 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 15 

trays of bread and apple butter, and buckets of cool spring 
water, to help along the tired troops. A happy contrast with 
the customs of the capital we had left behind us. 

A regiment of Reserves, who had started fresh and avlII- 
fed from Harrisburg that morning, and had gained on us 
■svhilo Ave were retarded by tlie .slow progress of the skirniisli- 
ers through the tall gi-aiu and tangled wheat, hni-i-icd up 
when the rumor began to spread that Carlisle was (>vacuated, 
and in a manner displaying equal ignorance of the rules of 
war and politeness, undertook to push their way through the 
brigade, " to get in ahead of the Yorkers," and win the 
honors of the victory from those who had borne the Imrden 
and heat of the day. Tn attempting this they soon found 
that they had calculated without their host, and that the 
commanding officers of the Twenty-second had cut their eye- 
teeth long before putting foot in Pennsylvania. When they 
pushed up on the right, the head of the column gently ob- 
liqued that way ; if they changed around, a siuiple "left 
oblique" rendered the movement needless ; and when they 
attempted by high strategy to come up on both sides, the 
order, " By company into line," filled the road from fence to 
fence with a solid front of men, who serenely swept forward, 
refusing to budge from their path for all the •' i)reserves'' 
" ever pickled." 

Then, letting dowu the fences, they took to the iields, and 
attempted to get by that way. At the sight of this a wild 
cry of " double quick" went up from the rear to the front of 
the C(jluinn, and breaking info a "double" the brigade s\ve]»t 
on for a mile or more, leaving their followers vanishing in 
their rear, whence, either from their being exhausted, or from 
hearing that the rebels had not left Carlisle, they never 
emerged to trouble us. 

We had hoard, it is true, from passing buggies, and strag- 



16 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

gling squads of paroled prisoners, that the village itself had 
been evacuated ; but all had united in asserting that the 
rebels were still very near, several stating that they were just 
on the outskirts of the place. Under these circumstances an 
ordinary mind would think that there was no necessity for 
hurrying. The Keserves were " gone in," and if there was the 
least danger, common sense required that the men should be 
brought into the city as fresh as possible ; but our commander 
did not see things in that light, and consequently walked de- 
liberately into a trap, which came within a hair's breadth 
of proving fatal to the whole command. 

The skirmishers had been called in before this, and the 
march had been rapid ; it now became '^forced." That 
meant, in this instance, a march pursued without regard to 
the health, comfort or fatigue of the troops, against the ex- 
postulations of the surgeons ; where speed is such an object 
that everything must be disregarded, and well or ill, suffering 
or not, the men must push on. 

And we did push on, and from our halt, more than ten 
miles from Carlisle, till we j)repared to meet the enemy in the 
city, no rest Was allowed. When we arrived at Kingston, a 
small but patriotic village on the road, where the women 
stood at their doors with piles of bread and apple butter, all 
expected, as a matter of course, that we would be allowed to 
rest and eat something ; but notwithstanding that no rations 
had been received since the morning of the previous day, 
(except a little bread obtained by a few of the lucky ones at 
Hogestown), and although it was now noon, yet our Brig- 
adier refused to allow a moment's halt, and the men were 
compelled to close up and march away from the food that 
stood ready for them. Any one who thinks this was not a 
sacrifice had better try the experiment. 

For a little while the march continued as usual. Thirteen 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 7 

miles passed ; a few quietly dropped out ; all were growling, 
not loud but deep. Fourteen, more vacancies — fifteen — the 
weather growing oppressive with the sultry heat of mid-day. 
No shade, no water, no rest; no complaining now, liut men 
dropping out with frightful rapidity. All those who were 
not pure " grit" had given in previously, and from this time 
every man kept up till he fell from sheer exhaustion. On 
every side you would see men flush, breathe hard, stagger to 
the side of the road and drop almost senseless ; but still the 
column went on. 

At one time the entire left wing of the Thirty-seventh, on 
arriving at the crest of a hill, rebelled, and halted where they 
stood. It would have been well if the whole brigade had 
followed their example ; but as the Twenty-second pressed 
on, regimental pride was aroused, an officer snatched up the 
colors and rushed forward, cheering on his men ; and closing 
up as best they could, every man, able to walk, rallied himself 
once more, and pushed forward. Colonel Koome, of the 
Thirty-seventh, gave out early, exhausted by illness and the 
fatigues of the previous day, but followed his regiment in a 
wagon ; and many other officers were compelled to imitate 
his example. But as there were neither ambulances nor 
wagons, nothing in truth for the transportation of the sick 
but what could be picked uj) on the road, the great majority 
of the disabled not only here but throughout our subsequent 
march, had to be left where they gave out. 

We finally halted a mile from Carlisle, and formed into 
line of battle to repel an attack fronj the rebels, then found 
to be in the vicinity. But in place of the two regiments, 
that started eleven hundred strong, only ahout tlnct' hun- 
dred men could be mustered on halting, and ( vcn these were 
almost completely exhausted ; while the remainder of the 
brigade were streteluMl in groups alnng the roadside, striv- 

3 



18 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

ing to collect their scattered forces sufficiently to enable 
them to overtake the column, and seven men in the Twenty- 
second reported by the surgeon as ruptured, afforded an ad- 
ditional 23roof, if one were necessary, of the severity of the 
march. 

The mere distance marched was not so great, as neces- 
sarily to have produced such a result, the same troops sub- 
sequently marched much farther without a tithe of the suffer- 
ing, but it was a great mistake to compel militia, exhausted 
by previous labor and privation, to undergo such an ordeal 
without food or rest, and its effect on the morale and dis- 
cipline of the troops can readily be conceived by any one. 

At last the march was finished, and we were at Carlisle, 
but so were the rebels. For awhile there was mounting 
in hot haste, riders galloping back to hurry up strag- 
glers ; and the brigade rapidly formed into line, amid hurried 
consultations of field officers, muttered curses from captains 
who, like Kachel, mourned for their companies "because 
they were not/' and the other unmistakable signs which in- 
dicate nervous anxiety at headquarters. After an hour or 
so spent on tenter-hooks, somebody told somebody some- 
thing which resulted in our marching ahead, expecting to 
have to fight at any moment. But no enemy exhibited 
himself, and passing through the principal street of Carlisle, 
we raised the American flas; amid oreat enthusiasm. 

Blessed be Carlisle — almost the only place since leaving 
Philadelphia where cheering had been heard. We could not 
appreciate too highly the grateful reception we mot. The 
hurrahs of the men, the smiles and waving handkerchiefs of 
the ladies, made us feel that patriotism still existed in the 
state ; and when the tired and hungry men were shown to a 
substantial meal in the inaiicct-liousc, and waited on by the 
ladies of the village (wln) utterly ecli])se any seen on the 



TWENTY-SliCOND REGIMENT. 19 

route for good looks as well as hospitality), it was unani- 
mously resolved that "Mahomet's paradise was a fool to Car- 
lisle." 

Having made some slight amends for their two days' fast, 
the Twenty-second marched through the city (without finish- 
ing their supper), having been ordered to support our friends, 
the Philadelphia battery, in a plan that had been formed at 
headquarters for cutting off a rebel detachment supposed to 
be around somewhere ; a supposition that was strictly correct, 
for a very short time showed that they were all around us. 
On the way to the position — refreshed and almost as good as 
new — uproarious cheers were given for the ladies of Carlisle, 
the Thirty-seventh, Colonel Roome, for everything, in fact, 
except our Brigadier, whose approach, from that time forth, 
was the signal for the deadest kind of silence. A slight 
wliich, on this occasion, elicited from that neglected individ- 
ual an order forbidding " this ridiculous {?) habit of cheer- 
ing." Circumstances, you know, alter cases. 

On reaching the crest of a hill, about two and a half miles 
south of the village, the artillery was placed " in battery," 
while the Twenty-second, now pretty well filled up by the 
arrival of those who had given out from the privation and 
heat of the march, formed line of battle as supports, and it 
may be remarked, as an instance of the pluck and the fatigue 
of the men, that, though an'engagement was momentarily ex- 
pected, more than three quarters of the rank and file coolly 
lay down in their places and went to sleep. An hour passed, 
and the heavy boom of a caimon, and the explosion of a shell, 
brought even the most weary to their feet. Nothing was to 
be seen in front ; but tlio thick columns of smoke ascending 
from Carlisle, the bright flashes of light and the frequent 
reports of artillery from the surrounding hills, showed us 
that the rebels lid suncundtd the place in overwhelming 



20 



THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 



force, and, without affording to the helpless women and 
children an opportunity to escape, had commenced to shell 
the town. 

Fortunately the moon had not yet risen, and the dusk of the 
evening concealed us as we stealthily crept back. On arriv- 
ing we learned that a dash of cavalry had been made into 
the town, the government barracks and the gas-house fired, 
and the batteries had at once opened, without further warn- 
ing. As there were inside, at that time, not more than 
eight hundred men, and one battery of four guns, and the 
attacking force numbered four thousand, with a much 
heavier force of artillery, things commenced to look as though 
our present journey would be continued via Richmond ; but 
happily our division commander. General W. F. Smith, proved 
himself here, as everywhere else, fully eq[ual to the emergency. 
While a portion of the Twenty-second were deployed as skir- 
mishers on the flanks of the town, covered by sharjDshooters, 
posted in the windows of the adjoining houses, behind which 
the artillery were placed, the centre of the town was protected 
by a force, mainly composed of the recent arrivals, concealed 
behind the heavy stone wall of the village cemetery. The 
Thirty-seventh, divided in like manner, were scattered 
around so as to make the largest possible show — some Re- 
serves were also there — everywhere they should not have 
been — who were rushing around indiscriminately, and aggra- 
vating the Thirty-seventh tremendously by disturbing their 
ranks in so doing, 

' For the purpose of protecting our flanks, it was found 
requisite that out-lying pickets or scouts should bo sent 
as far out to the front as they could go, to give all the 
notice possible of any advance of the enemy. The service was 
one of such danger, and the assurances of being '^ gobbled" 
by the rebels so great, that the cavalry detailed for that duty 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 



21 



refused to perform it. Colonel Aspimvall, hearing of this, 
offered to supply their places. The offer was accepted, and 
a detail was made from Company D, who were stationed in 
the vicinity, guarding the barricade across the road. The 
three men selected, at once advanced without hesitation, and 
spent the whole night alone, in the extreme front, patrolling 
the approaches ; and performed their difficult and arduous 
duty in such a manner as to earn a special compliment from 
Captain King of the Fourth regulars, the division chief of 
artillery. 

Why our friends, the enemy, did not attack and capture 
the whole party of us remains a mystery to this day — hut it 
is conjectured that some skirmishers of the Thirty-seventh, 
who were captured at the commencement of the fight, being 
no way daunted thereat, coolly told such huge stories about 
the First Division N. Y. S. M., as to " bluff" their captors. 
It was very evident, at least, that the rebels were wholly 
in the dark (figuratively as well as literally) respecting the 
position of our forces ; and being compelled to fire at random, 
threw their shell around in a manner most disagreeable to 
witness from our end of their cannon. After at least two 
hours' rapid firing, the rebels sent in a flag of truce, demand- 
ing the surrender of the place, very kindly allowing some fif- 
teen minutes for the women and children, whom they had not 
already killed, to leave the town to escape the '' certain de- 
struction" which was threatened (a la Beauregard) if the 
request was refused ; but refused it was by Gen. Smith, in 
terms more forcible than polite ; so the batteries reopened. 

It had now become a clear moonlight night ; a portion of 
the artillery was so near tliat the commands of the ofiicerR 
could be distinctly heard, and the incessant flash and roar 
of the guns, the "screech" of shells flying overhead, and tlie 
heavy jar of their explosion among the buildings in the rear, 
seemed strangely inconsistent with the calm beauty of the 



22 ' THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

scene. At times it seemed doubtful wliether the incessant 
uproar was really the bombardment of a quiet village ; for, 
during the momentary pauses of the cannonade, the chirp 
of the katydid, and the other peaceful sounds of a country 
summer night, were heard as though nature could not realize 
that human beings had sought that quiet spot to destroy 
each other. 

It must not be supposed that any such sentiment, or in 
fact any sentiment whatever, was exhibited on our part ; 
quite the contrary, for as soon as it became evident that no 
immediate attack would be made, the men, whether crouch- 
ing at the house windows, or lying on their faces in the wet 
grass of the cemetery, went to sleep with a unanimity charm- 
ing to witness ; the heaviest shelling only eliciting a growl 
from some discontented private, that ''it was a blasted 
humbug for the rebs. to try to keep a fellar awake in that 
manner ;" the remark ending generally in a prolonged snore 
that proved the unsuccessfulness of the attempt. 

Some time before dawn, preparations were made to receive 
the attack, which was expected to follow the instant that 
the first streak of daylight discovered our position. Ofiicers 
bustled nervously around, the sleejiers were cautiously 
awakened, and all stood to' arms with the stern determina- 
tion to resist to the bitter end ; but judge of our gratifica- 
tion, when the shelling gradually ceased ; and in a short time 
the announcement that the rebels had retreated, gave us 
an opportunity to look around, and ascertain the damages. 

From the incessant uproar, the scream and report of the 
bursting shells, the glare of the flames, the smashing of 
buildings, and the other sounds incident to a bombardment, 
which had greeted our ears during the preceding night, the 
general expectation in the morning was to find the town a 
heap of ruins, and the great majority, both of troops and 
inhabitants, bleeding in the streets. 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 23 

Never was there a greater mistake. It was really wonder- 
ful to think that so much cold iron could be fired into a place 
and cause so little loss of life and liinh. To In^ sure much 
property had been destroyed, any amount of houses struck, 
many greatly damaged, and roofs and windows generally 
looked dilapidated enough ; but, as in the other bombard- 
ments of the war, the destruction had been far from universal, 
and the escape of the occupants perfectly miraculous. 

The citizens, concealed in their cellais, and the soldiers 
lying flat behind the cemetery walls and in the fields, had 
almost entirely escaped the iron tempest ; shells had gone 
under and over any amount of people, but had really hit 
very few. Some of the townspeojile were hurt, but the exact 
number is unknown. A few of the Reserves who were rushing 
around the streets, instead of obeying orders and keei)ing 
under cover, suffered heavily; the Thirty-seventh, always un- 
lucky, had some hurt ; while the Twenty-second, with more 
than their usual good fortune, got ofi* with one or two slightly 
bruised. The rebel loss is almost unknown, but is supposed 
to have been severe. 

As soon as it was definitely known that the rebels had re- 
treated, the brigade, dispensing with the little formality of 
breakfast, marched to ' the top of a hill, about a mile south 
of the town ; and after forming line of battle in an oat-field, 
the men, exhausted by the twenty-five miles' march of the pre- 
ceding day and the fatigue of the night, with one accord, lay 
down in the blazing sun and slept till late in the afternoon. 

About four o'clock some breakfast (or rather supper), in the 
shape of a little pork and potatoes, was found; but just as we 
were getting ready to eat, the dulcet notes of the " assembly" 
burst upon our unwilling ears, and we had to " fall in/' <1 in- 
ner or no dinner. Of course we obeyed ; but not relishing the 
idea of marching away from the only meal that had l)een seen 



24 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

for twenty-four hours (a thing which we had been compelled 
to do more than once before), a grand dash was made at the 
pans ; and the regiment fell in and marched off, every man 
with a piece of pork in one hand and a potato in the other, 
eating away for dear life, and forming a tout ensemble not 
often equalled. 

With the exception of a little picket duty, that night and 
the next day were spent in camp opposite the ruined barracks, 
and were devoted by all hands to the most energetic resting. 
To some, the day was blessed by the receipt of their overcoats 
and rubber blankets. Happy few ! But their joy only made 
more melancholy the condition of the great majority whose 
portables still remained behind, safely stowed in Harrisburg ; 
80 safely, that as far as the owners were concerned, they might 
as well have been in New York ; so safely, in fact, that the 
owners of one half of them never found them again. In truth, 
from the commencement of our " two hours" march until we 
arrived in New York (just three weeks), neither officers nor 
privates were ever enabled to change even their under cloth- 
ing, but soaked by day and steamed by night in the suit they 
wore the day they started ; a suit which, consequently, in no 
very long time assumed an indescribable color and condition. 
Many managed, by hook or by crook, during our subsequent 
marches, to beg, borrow, or " win," some rubber blankets ; but 
at least one in six were without that indispensable article, 
whose absence renders camp life " a lengthened misery long 
drawn out," and more than one in four were without over- 
coats ; while plates there were none ; spoons were veiy scarce ; 
and the use of such things as forks, combs, and even soap, 
was utterly forgotten, nor could they be procured. Soap, for 
instance, we would think could be obtained anywhere ; but 
unfortunately the rebels entertained a notion that if they only 
washed they would be clean ; an idea which any one, who 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 25 

ever saw them, will udmit to be too preposterous to require 
contradiction. But preposterous or not, they acted up to it, 
and immediately on entering a place proceeded to a})propri- 
ate every square inch of soap that could be found therein; 
so that when we came; along a few days afterward, nothing 
saponaceous could be obtained for love or money, and in con- 
sequence, the absence of that essential frequently compelled 
us to imitate the habits of our " Southern brethren" much 
closer than was agreeable. 

Our stay in Carlisle was pleasant — very pleasant — for in 
addition to the hospitable treatment we received as individu- 
als, our regiment was honored by the presentation of a flag 
from the ladies of the city. But we could not stay there al- 
ways; and at reveille, on the glorious Fourth of July, without 
seeing as much as a single fire-cracker, or hearing an allusion 
to the American eagle, or the flag of our Union, we turned 
our backs on civilization and marched for the mountains, ta- 
king a bee-line for Gettysburg, where, although unknowTi to 
us, the greatest battle of the war was raging. General Smith 
having previously detailed the Twenty-second to remain as a 
guard for the city, we came very near being ingloriously left 
behind ; but, at the urgent request of Colonel Aspinwall, and 
to our own infinite gratification, we were permitted to accom- 
pany the column to the front. 

We now formed a portion of a division commanded by Gen. 
W. F. Smith, composed of that portion of the New York mili- 
tia formerly stationed in the vicinity of Harrisburg, and who 
had joined us at Carlisle, consisting, I believe, of the Fiiglilh, 
Eleventh, and Seventy-first regiments of New York, the 
Tenth, Thirteentli, Twenty-third, Twenty-eighth, Forty- 
seventh, Fifty-second, and Fifty-sixth of Brooklyn, the Sev- 
enty-fourth and Seventy-fifth of Buflalo, and one or two 
others from the interior of the state, besides two riiiladelphia 

4 



26 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

batteries, a few Pennsylvania troops, and the regular cavalry 
-from the Carlisle barracks ; and from this time mitil our return 
our adventures became identical with those of the whole 
division. 

. The day was clear and beautiful, the roads good, and, as 
we reached the mountains, the scenery became magnificent. 
General Smith himself directed our progress, and everything 
seemed propitious. By noon we had accomplished twelve 
miles almost without fatigue, and took our noonday rest 
(for under an ofiicer who understood himself, this essen- 
tial was not tabooed) in the shade of the woods which fringed 
one of the mountain passes, eagerly seeking information 
about the battle, which we now learned was in progress, and 
this time our information was from authentic sources. About 
three thousand paroled prisoners (principally of the first corps 
of the Army of the Potomac, captured in the first day's fight 
at Gettysburg, and released on the Carlisle road, because the 
rebels had too much on hand to look after prisoners), passed 
us during the day, in a steady stream ; and from them we 
learned that we were but one day's march from the battle- 
field, and would probably be able to turn the scale of victoiy 
if we arrived in time. 

So eagerly were we engaged in discussing the chances of the 
battle, and seeking to reconcile the different accounts we re- 
ceived, that no one noticed a change in the weather, until the 
rapid drift of black clouds overhead, and the dull sighing 
of the trees, warned us that rain was close at hand ; in the 
midst of hurried preparations it came — not a rain, but a 
deluge. Hour after hour, in steady perpendicular sheets, the 
rain descended. In vain were all the ingenious contrivances 
of leaves and boughs ; in five minutes overcoats were soaked ; 
in ten, shelter tents slieltered nothing but small lakes ; in 
fifteen, oven rul)lv>r blatd^ets were useless ; and in less than 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 27 

half an hour nil wore uiiitod in the common miseiy of a 
thorough ducking. In an incredihly short time, the whole 
•scene was changed : what was formerly the road had heen 
converted, hy a stream from the hills, into a torrent mid-leg 
deep, through which the released prisoners trudged with all 
the coolness of veterans ; the woods, banks — everything, was 
flooded with lukt's and waterfalls ; and in front, bridges ren- 
dered insecure, and fords impassable, showed what old Aqua- 
rias could do when he set fairly to work. 

One or two brigades in the advance, suspecting what was 
coming, pushed on and crossed the ford over Yellow Breeches 
creek before the worst had come ; but by the time our brigade 
was ready to follow their example, the creek was no longer 
fordable, and we were obliged to wait some time before it was 
safe to attempt to get over ; and even though the men event- 
ually crossed, the baggage, on account of eitlier the ford or 
the bridges, stayed behind ; thereby acquiring a habit of doing 
so, which subsequently interfered very seriously with our 
comfort. 

After long waiting, the waters subsided sufficiently to allow 
us to proceed, and the regiment started, drenched to the skin, 
but glad enough to get anywhere, if it Avas only away from 
those woods; and pushing rapidly forward, a short march over 
flooded roads gullied by the rain, brouglit us to what was 
called the ford. 

The popular idea of a " ford" is a clear, shallow sheet of 
water, more or less broad ; — at least we exjiected to see some- 
thing of the kind. The actual ford we marched up to was a 
thick wood, filled with tangled thickets, logs, and the name- 
less floating things of a freshet, througli which a mountain 
torrent, a hundred yards wide, tore and plunged like a mad 
tiling. An hour before it would have been madness to 
cross ; but now, by felling a few trees across the deepest 



28 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

holes, it had been made practicable, though exceedingly diffi- 
cult, to get over. With pants rolled up as high as they could 
be coaxed (producing a most extraordinary appearance, as may 
well be imagined) the troops — ^by a series of climbing over the 
stumps, balancing along the slippery and unsteady logs which 
bridged the holes where the cuiTcnt was too swift and deep to 
be waded, creeping gingerly with bare legs through thorny 
thickets, and anon struggling waist-deep through the turbid 
stream, whose rapid current was filled with floating logs, 
which inflicted most grievous "wipes" on the extremities of 
the forders, besides rendering it almost impossible to stand 
without assistance — proceeded to cross. • 

Notwithstanding the unpleasantness of the operation, the 
frequent duckings and the no less frequent bruises from 
stumps and floating timber, the sight was so supremely ridic- 
ulous that the misery was forgotten in the fun. Koars of 
laughter greeted those unfortunates — and their name was 
legion — who, in their endeavor to keep piece, cartridge-box, 
coat-tails and other " impedimenta" out of the water, forgot 
about their footing, until they were reminded by a plunge from 
a slippery stump, head over ears into the depths of the stream, 
that that was the first, not the last point, to be kept in mind. 

A short distance from the ford a halt was ordered, where 
the men collected as they struggled over ; each company 
building huge fires and trying to render themselves a little 
less uncomfortable. Vain thought ! Scarcely had the fires 
begun to throw a more cheerful light on the scene, when 
" Brigade, forward V was heard from the front, and turning 
our backs on the comforts we had hoped for, we squattered 
up the road. " Squattered" is rather a singular word, but 
it is the only one available to describe the mode of progres- 
sion up that road. And such a road ! Considered a bad 
road in fine weather, in a region where there are no good 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 29 

roads, the most vivid imagination fails to depict its present 
condition. It wound along halfway up tlie side of a mountain ; 
and between the steady pour of the rain, filling up every 
gully and making a mud lake of every hole, and the torrents 
which, rushing down from above, cut it into all sorts of hol- 
lows and trenches, as they swept across to precipitate them- 
selves oif the other side into the valley beneath, it [^resented 
every combination of evils which could appal a WTary 
traveler. Alon^ this road, mill-race, slough, stone bed — 
for it was all of these by turns — we pushed forward ; but 
the pen fails in the endeavor to describe that marcli. Many 
things have we suffered and been jolly over, but it is unani- 
mously voted that '' for good, square misery," the night 
of the 4th of July, 1863, is equaled by few and excelled by 
none in the annals of the Twenty-second regiment. 

As a pitchy blackness rendered everything invisible, a lan- 
tern was carried at the head of the column, to prevent those 
behind from being lost. Every few minutes we would bo 
plunged into a mountain stream running across the road, and 
which could be heard falling an indefinite distance down the 
other side ; wading across this, in an instant, more we would 
find ourselves struggling knee-deep in mud of an uuequaled 
tenacity; and the efforts made to extricate ourselves generally 
resulted in getting tripped up by projecting roots and stum])s. 
As those in front reached an obstacle, they passed the word 
down the line, ''Stump!" "Ford!" "Stones!" "Mud- 
hole !" Frequently this latter cry became altered to " Man 
in a mud-hole!" "Two men in a mud-hole — look out 
sharp ! ! !" 

The only way in which it was possible to move was by fol- 
lowing exactly behind your file-leader, if you lost sight of 
him you were helpless ; yet, amid all these dilliculties, we 
continued our march, with a calm despair that was prepared 
for anything. 



30 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

At eleven o'clock at night tlie head of the regiment halted 
per force — stuck in the mud — even the officers' horses 
too tired to go another step ; the brigade itself was lost, 
scattered for the last three miles, wherever a turn or twist 
in the road had hid the guiding lamp ; less than two com- 
panies were on hand, and many of their number had been 
left in the various mud "wallows" on the way ; all were 
perfectly exhausted, so we camped where we stood — such 
camping-ground ne'er before was seen by mortal man — but 
it was Hobson's choice, that or none. 

Imagine a swampy, water- soaked, spungy compound of 
moss and mud, where the foot sank ankle-deep, covering a 
bank some twenty feet in width, which extended from the 
dense woods to the muddy road ; no fence, no house for miles; 
every bit of wood and brush so soaked that one might as 
well have tried to start a fire with paving stones ; and you 
will have a very faint idea of the cheerful place in which we 
lay down, tired, hungry, muddy, and wet as water could 
make us, to enjoy (?) a little sleep. At about one o'clock it 
commenced to rain — heavens, how it did rain ! It takes 
considerable to arouse men as tired and worn out as those 
that lay around in that swamp ; but one by one they got up 
with the melancholy confession that " the rain was once 
more too many for them." By dint of patient industry a 
fire had been made, whose ruddy blaze seemed to cheer 
up the scene a little, and clustering around it the awak- 
ened sleepers sought a little comfort ; but it was all in 
vain. Another sheet of rain ; and the fire, a moment previ- 
ous, blazing breast high, was a mass of water-soaked embers, 
around which huddled, for the remainder of the night, as 
disconsolate and miserable a set of bipeds as ever was seen. 
During the whole night but one solitary laugh broke the 
gloomy silence. A poor unfortunate corporal, who had been 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 31 

crouching all night on the end of a log, wrapped up in a rub- 
ber blanket, foiling asleep in the vain endeavor to extract a 
little warmth from the embers uf the extinguished fire, lost 
his balance while nodding to and fro, and rolled backward, 
heels over head, into the mud and water which composed the 
road ; whence he emerged, such a pale drab-colored and 
profane ajjparition, as would have drawn a smile from the very 
Genius of Despair. In this general misery, rank was for- 
gotten ; even our Brigadier shared our fiu'tunes, and slept in 
.the nuul like the lowest private. Arising before dawn — if 
that term can be used where no one had laid down — we 
pushed forward ; and a most tiresome five-mile walk through 
the same horrible road, now drained into a sticky clay mud, 
knee-deep, brought us to Laurel Forge, a place composed 
of a dozen huts, a big forge, and nothing else, where, at about 
eleven a. m., we got a little something to eat, the first for 
more than thirty hours. But our trains ivere behind, broken 
down, stuck all along in the mud. This does not mean nuich 
to outsiders ; but to us it meant that the shortest kind of 
short commons would be our fate in future, a projdiecy 
which we found to our sorrow to be strictly correct. At 
about half-past ekven o'clock, the men having nearly all 
come up, and a chance having been afibrded them to get a 
mouthful to eat (in consequence of the expostulations of 
the officers against the Brigadier's orders to go forward with- 
out waiting for food) we proceeded on our weary way ; and 
about three hours' marching over very good, but awfully steej) 
mountain roads, brought us to the spot designated for the di- 
vision caiii[), wJK.'rc we went to sleej) in the customary rain, 
which fatigue liad now deprived of its powers. 

At this portion of the march. Judge Davies (of the New 
York Court of Appeals) wlio had come to the front with 
despatches, joined the regiment, and shared its fortunes 



32 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

in tlie subsequent movements until he was compelled to re- 
turn home, after our arrival at Waynesboro'. The Judge 
seemed to take a great interest in what was transpiring; and 
it would have considerably surprised those who have only 
beheld him on the bench, to have seen him, in an old linen 
coat " split down behind," scouring the country to the right 
and left of the line of march, in quest of supplies and in- 
formation for the Twenty-second ; displaying, in these pur- 
suits, the most invaluable talents as a forager, and a capacity 
for enduring hardship and privation which put many of his 
juniors to the blush. ^ 

The situation of our present camp was most picturesque, 
the scenery magnificent, the mountain air bracing. There was 
only one drawback — that the few wagons that had resisted 
the embraces of the mud could not be brought up to the 
crest of the mountain where the camp was situated. These 
wagons contained our rations (and precious little of them too) ; 
that we could not live without eating, at least once a day, 
was made evident,'even to the great mind that controlled us ; 
and so, as the mountain would not come to Mahomet, 
Mahomet had to go to the mountain, and the next morning 
we marched down the other side, in imitation of the king of 
France, of pious memory, to a camp where, by hard foraging, 
at about one o'clock, p. m., we secured our breakfast of bread, 
apple butter and meat — real meat, and never did breakfast 
taste so good in all this world. 

It was well known by this time, that while we were stuck 
in the mud on the glorious Fourth, the rebels had retreated 
from Gettysburg, and were now endeavoring to escape 
through the mountain passes, and we were reluctantly com- 
pelled to abandon the hopes that had been entertained of 
earning immortal glory, by coming in at the eleventh hour 
to turn their defeat into a rout. It is evident to every 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 33 

one that it would have made an immense difference in the 
result of the contest, if our division of fresh troops, eight or 
ten thousand strong, could have been i5recii)itated upon the 
flank of the rebel army, exhausted as they were by three 
days' fighting. But it was not to be ; and therefore, turning 
away from Gettysburg, we bent our energies to prevent the 
rebels from securing the mountain passes. Marching hastily 
to one gap we would hold it, until the information that the 
rebels were going to another would cause a forced march 
for that. What would have taken place, if we had liap- 
pened to strike a gap, just as half of Lee's army had got 
through, is a thing: which we did not think about at the 
time, but which we now see would have been rather un- 
pleasant. 

I will not enter upon the monotonous recital of the dreary 
marches that were performed in the three times in which 
we crossed the mountains, of the incessant rains, the horrible 
roads, the want of food ! One meal a day was our usual 
allowance, and this generally consisted of bread (at a dollar 
a loaf), and apple butter. If we could get meat once in three 
days we accounted ourselves fortunate, and then the animal 
was driven into camji, shot, cut up, cooked and eaten in less 
time than it takes to write about it ; and such meat, generally 
eaten without salt, was not very nourishing. Money was 
oflfered freely enough, but partly from the poorness of the 
country and partly from tlic ravages of the rebels, food 
could not be obtained. In this misery all the militia, 
whether New-Yorkers or Pennsylvanians, were common 
sufferers. 

On the 6th day of July, we marched till late at night, ex- 
pecting to cut oil' the rebel wagon-train at Newman's Gap. 
It was as dark as Erebus, but the numerous lights, and (he 
sounds that were heard as we ap]ironeh(vl, convinced all that 

5 



34 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

the movement had been successful, perhaps a little too suc- 
cessful, for it was evident that there were more infantry than 
wagons in our front. The surgeons took possession of a 
house and hung out their flag, a few hurried preparations 
were made, and the regiments moved cautiously up, when 
the rciuin of one of our scouts disclosed that the supposed 
enemy was only some of the Brooklyn regiments, who had 
taken a shorter road, and come in ahead of our brigade. Con- 
siderably disgusted at this intelligence, we turned off into 
the fields which bordered the road, hungry and tired enough, 
and slept in the long wet grass, till in the early gray of the 
morning, we were ordered to " forward." 

On reaching Newman's Gap, we found that Lee's rear- 
guard had passed through, about eight hours before we got 
there, and that the fight, so confidently expected at this 
point, was "off" for some time yet; but, though disap- 
pointed in this respect, we were compensated by obtaining 
something to eat ; and in addition had the plccisure of having 
pointed out to us, no less than six houses, in all of which 
Longstreet had died the previous night, and two others, where 
he was yet lying mortally wounded. 

On the 7th of July, after an unusually fatiguing march 
over muddy roads, rendered almost impracticable by the 
passage of Lee's army, the division went into camp at Funks- 
town. The place selected was a level piece of ground in the 
midst of a beautiful grove, intersected by a rapid little 
brook, the whole forming one of the most comfortable sj^ots 
imaginable. Rations had come up, and though we had to 
sleep on our arms for fear of an attack from Stuart's cavalry, 
then in our neighborhood, we lay down in first rate spirits 
and slept the sleep of the just. 

During the night it raincid lioavily ; but too tired to wake 
up for any ordinary shower, wc sheltered ourselves and our 



TWENTY-SECOND RECilMENT. 35 

gims as best we might, unci slept on. At about three 
o'clock it seemed as thoiigli the very fountains of the great 
deep had been broken up, and the rain came down in solid 
sheets, compelling the most tired to rise ; we could stand 
a good deal, and, as one remarked, a common rain wasn't 
anything, but when tlie water got so deep as to cover his 
nose, he VN^oke up in disgust. 

What a sight presented itself on rising ! The beautiful 
grassy plain, level as a billiard-table, on which we had lain 
down so cheerfully the night before, was now a lake, beneath 
whose surface our guns, canteens, and other paraphernalia, 
were slowly disappearing ; the little brook had become a tor- 
rent, almost equal to the far-famed Yellow Breeches, which 
a few Brooklyn boys were vainly endeavoring to ford, in 
order to rescue some of their trajis swept away by its sudden 
overflow ; the smooth grass had vanished, and on every side 
nothing was to be seen but mud, water, and wet and muddy 
soldiers. 

From three to eleven o'clock a. m. that rain continued with 
unabated vigor. A fire was started under the shelter of a 
rubber blanket, and coffee made, which put new life into our 
limbs, and we became quite jolly. It is a noticeable fact, 
that where things become jierfectly awful — when tlie mud is 
deepest and the rain the heaviest — there the spirits of the 
men appear to rise with the difficulties of the situation (ex- 
cept when they have nothing to eat), and they apparently 
enjoy themselves much more than if they were merely suf- 
fering from a temporary annoyance ; and accommodate them- 
selves to circumstances as though it was rather funny than 
otherwise ; nevertheless, we were not in the least disi)leased 
when the order came to march. 

On the 8th of July, the division arrived at Waynesboro', 
where we were annexed to the third brigade, second division 



2^ THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

of the sixth army corps (whose white cross, cartistically 
carved out of cracker, was at once adopted by any quantity 
of the men), and in the subsequent manoeuvi-es which took 
place, became a part of the Army of the Potomac. We 
found Waynesboro', a pleasant little place, but so cleaned out 
by the rebels that you could not even buy a tin cup ; and al- 
though our foraging parties scoured the country both in and 
outside the pickets with untiring zeal, the results were 
meagre enough ; and during the three days we remained 
(most of the time expecting an attack), we had almost 
nothing to eat the first day, and but a bare sufficiency after- 
ward. 

During these three days, by dint of sleeping about all the 
time, the brigade had got pretty well rested, and in the after- 
noon of the 11th took up their lino of march for Maryland, in 
first-rate spirits. 

We experienced some trouble on the way, and marched 
and countermarched a good deal, losing three hours' time 
and our tempers, in consequence of our General having for- 
gotten that, in going through a strange country, he couldn't 
get on well without providing himself with a guide ; and it 
was not till after dark that we got across the Antietam at 
Scotland's Bridge. Once across, however, a j^leasant moon- 
light 'march over a first-rate road, soon brought us to the 
border, and when our ofiicers announced, "That house 
marks the line, boys !" it was with no small gratification 
that we shook off the dust from our feet, sino-ino- with 

great empressment the Union version of "Maryland 

My Maryland," together with a number of parodies not 
very complimentary to the " men wo left behind us." 

A few miles from the line, we camped by division. Many, in 
reading of a camp by division, imagine a most picturesque 
scene, of long lines of snowy tents being pitched, while trees 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 



37 



are felled for firewood, ami all sorts of poetic things take 
place. Nothing of the kind occurs. On arriving at the selected 
spot (generally a large field), the regiments file in one after 
another, taking their places in the order in which they 
marched, and break to the rear so as to form column by com- 
panies. The orders are given : " Halt ! Stack arms ! Go 
for rails! !" Andeveiy man simultaneously droj)s liis traps 
where he stands, and makes a bee-line for tlio tall worm 
fences, which are vanishing in every direction, as if by magic. 
One of these rails must be contributed to the company fire, 
and happy is he who in addition to procuring liis quota, 
can secure a couple more for himself! Serenely reposing 
on their sharp edges, covered by his rubber blanket, he 
defies at once the rain above and the mud below; or, more am- 
bitious grown, the spoils of four are combined, and a shelter, 
a la rebel, is sj^eedily constructed, wdiich is roofed with two 
rubber blankets, and the proprietors lying underneath on tlie 
other two, are at once the admiration and envy of tlicii- 
comrades. The company rails being obtained, are split, a fire 
started, and supper cooked (if there is anything to cook), and 
the men, after smoking the pipe of peace, lie down, some 
around the fire, and the rest where they halted in the first in- 
stance, and in two minutes arc fast asleep ; blessing tlie 
memory of the discoverer of tobacco, and the man who in- 
vented sleep. • 

At the first streak of daylight all are awake ; a hurried 
breakfast is made, or not (generally not), ablutions are like- 
wise dispensed with ; the "assembly" sounds ; rubbers and 
overcoats are hastily rolled and slung by those wlio are lucky 
enough to have them ; a few hurried orders are jjassed along 
the line ; the troops fall in and march off; and in half-an-hour 
the trampled ground, the ashes of num<n-ous fires, and the 
ruined fences, alone tell that ten thousand men have camped 
there for tho night. 



^^ THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

For some time we had been pressing hard upon the heels of 
Lee's retreating army, and at every step new signs of the 
. rapidity of his movements were to be seen. He moved in 
three columns, the cavalry and artillery taking the road, and 
the inf-mtiy the fields on each side, through which their 
trampling had cut a path as wide as a city street, destroying 
the crops they encountered, in a way fit to bring tears into a 
farmer's eyes ; and throughout the whole route, numbers of 
wounded men were found, left in the houses by the roadside, 
and deserters without end were encountered, while broken wag- 
ons, abandoned ammunition, canteens, &c., &c., were strewed 
on every side. Yet, notmthstanding these appearances of 
demoralization, it was evident, from the accounts of the 
country people, that, though much dispirited by their late 
defeat, the rebel army was far from being the mere mob that 
it was believed by some to be. 

It is true that the mountains were full of stragglers, and 
our cavalry were constantly passing us with crowds of pris- 
oners in their charge ; yet the main army had a good deal of 
fight left in it still, and when it turned on its pursuers, as it 
frequently did, like a stag at bay, it was not to be despised. 

From the formation of the ground, in that section of 
countiy, the retreating army derived a great advantage over 
their pursuers, and were constantly enabled to take positions 
too strong to be attacked with less than the whole Union 
army, and where a mere show of strength would check our 
advance; and then before Meade could concentrate his forces, 
Lee would be oif. At Funks town in particular, with the 
simplest materials, a steep slope, fronted by the Antietam, 
had been converted by the rebels into a second Fredericks- 
burgh. This was all that saved them, for General Meade 
pressed the pursuit fast and furious. 



TWENTY-SECOND KEGIMENT. 30 

On the morning of Sunday, the 14tli of Jur^d, we found 
ourselves at Cavetown, almost used up. We had had no 
breakfost ; and, from a variety of causes, the march had been 
one of the most wearisome we had yet experienced. Tlie 
morning was sultry and exhausting beyond expression ; tlie 
atmosphere heavy, with that peculiar feeling which precedes 
a tliundor-storm — and, in addition, our shoes were so nearly 
worn out that the shai-p stones, wliich covered and almost 
paved a most abominable wheat-field, through wliich we liad 
passed on the route, had disabled many whose feet were just 
recovering from the blisters of previous marches. 

As soon as we had halted, the division formed line of bat- 
tle, on the rise of a little hill fronting Hagerstown (to act as 
supports to General Kilpatrick, who had gone forward tlint 
morning to attack it), and we then lay down to rest, first send- 
ing details in all directions to forage for a meal. 

While idling around, bemoaning the condition of our feet, 
and discussing the chances of capturing Hagerstown, the 
sultry promise of the morning was amply redeemed by one 
of the most tremendous thunder-storms ever seen ; the rain 
fell in toiTcnts (but this was a matter of course, and ex- 
cited no remark), and the thunder pealed and the liglitning 
flashed all around us — too near to some. Five men of the 
Fifty-sixth Brooklyn were struck, one of whom died in- 
stantly, and the others were badly hurt. A gun belonging 
to the Thirty-seventh was shattered to pieces by the electric 
fluid ; and several men in the difterent regiments were re- 
minded by slight shocks that the farther tliey kept from 
the stacks of arms the better. 

During the afternoon our ears and eyes were gladdened, 
the one by intelligence that Hagerstown liad been taken 
after a sharp fight, the other by the sight of vnv dinner {ov 
brcakfixst) coming up the road, in the shape of an astonish- 



40 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

ed OX, who, when he threw up his head in response to the 
cheers which greeted his entre, was shot, skinned, and boiling, 
before he fairly knew what he was wanted for ; and finally, 
the arrival and distribution of a case of shoes to those who 
were actually barefoot, put us all in the seventh heaven of 
delight. We also found some tobacco ! To be sure it was 
poor stuff, apparently a villanous compound of seaweed and 
tea ; but only those who have known what it is to see their 
stock of the precious weed vanish day by day, with no avail- 
able means of replenishing it, can imagine our feelings on 
finding a supply, after we had been reduced to less than a 
quarter of a pound to a company. 

At about twelve o'clock the next day, the column camped 
by division, some three miles from General Meade's head- 
quarters, about the same distance from Boonesboro', and 
within sight of the immense train of the reserve artillery, at 
a place where the old bivouacs of the Army of the Potomac 
filled the air with the nauseating smells invariably incident 
to deserted camps. In this delightful spot we waited for the 
battle which was to be brought on. 

All were in high spirits ; — it was universally supposed that 
the rains had made the Potomac unfordable, '' and that Lee 
was a goner this time sure ;" but as hour after hour passed 
without a sound of the heavy cannonading which marks " the 
battle's opening roar," and rumor after rumor filled the air, the 
talk, as time lengthened, grew less and less hopeful, and finally 
during the afternoon we learned definitely that " the play was 
played out." Lee was gone, boots and baggage, and our 
hopes of taking a hand in the contest which would probably 
have decided the war, were gone with him. Perhaps it was 
all for the best. If Lee gave battle, it would be on selected 
ground, against weary troops, where every man in the rebel 
army knew he was fighting with no hope of escape, and 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 41 

would conseciuently resist to tlie utmost ; under tliese cir- 
cumstances, the contest, if not doubtful, would unquestion- 
ably liave been bloody beyond all precedent ; and many 
desolated homes, and empty jdaces in the armories of the 
Empire City, would have mourned for those who would return 
no more. 

We were now in the midst of the Army of the Potomac, 
and it is difficult for those inexperienced in such matters to 
form the least conception of the vast bulk of men and ma- 
terial whicli contribute to form that organization; yet, huo-e 
as it was, no confusion was visible, and everything went 
like clockwork, even during the difficulties of that liurried 
pursuit. 

We only wished that the same could be said of us, but so 
far was t]iis from being the case, that it was remarked by a 
regular officer that there was more destitution and sufferino- 
among our little division than among the whole Army of 
the Potomac, and no one acquainted with the facts can 
deny the correctness of the assertion. 

It is iuTpossible to express what a relief it was when we 
once became incorporated with this army ; for to enter it, was 
coming once more from the scarcity and make-shifts of the 
backwoods, into the light of civilization. We found our- 
selves again among newspapers, and sutlers— people who 
could change a two-dollar bill and had things to sell ; where 
greenbacks yet served as a medium of exchange, and ])r()- 
vision trains were not more than two days behind time ; and 
in our exultation, we even began to entertain vague hojjcs that, 
in the progress of events, our letters might be possibly fortli- 
coming. It was now more than two weeks since a word of 
news had been heard, oithor from lionic or al.road ; aiul we 
naturally were exceedingly anxious foi- a, little information 
about matters and filings in general. (.)ur iirnorance was 

6 



42 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

painful on almost every subject. Vicksburg, we knew, had 
been captured, but tbis was all ; and even the battle of 
Gettysburg, fougbt right under our noses, and a common 
topic of conversation, was to us " a tale untold." 

On the 15th of July, our time was up, the rebels gone, and 
there bcinf^ nothing more that we could do. General Meade 
told us " he was much obliged and we could go." So, bid- 
ding General Smith a cordial good-by, we took up our line of 
march for Frederick City, and home; first, however, going a 
long way in the wrong direction, and having to counter- 
march back. This was nothing new, however, for, whether 
it was owing to ill luck, bad guides, indefinite orders, or 
stupidity, something of the kind took place at every move- 
ment that was ordered. The brigade never turned down a 
side-road, or took an unusual direction, without a general 
grumble arising—" Wrong road, of course ! see if we don't 
have to go back in a few minutes,"— and we generally did. 
In truth, we went back so often, that we began to hate the 
very word " countermarch." 

It is presumed that those in authority had been informed 
by telegraph respecting the riots in New York ; but the first 
that the subordinates knew about the matter was, on ob- 
taining, on the march, that memorable Herald, describing 
how the '" military fired on the people. " If any of the editors 
of that veracious journal had happened to be in our vicinity 
about that period, it is more than probable that they would 
have been furnished with a practical illustration of their 
text, for a more angry set of men than the first division 
N. Y. S. M., never was seen. 

It was sufficiently galling to know, that while we w^ere 
'away enduring all sorts of hardships to expel the rebels from 
Northern soil, an infainous set of copperheads had un- 
dertaken a counter-revolution in our very homes ; and the 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 43 

additioual reflection of the opportunity it would give our 
Pennsylvania friends to depreciate our state, lent the ac- 
count an additional sting. That day was the first, and we 
hope the only time in <»ur lives, that any one was heard to 
say that he felt ashamed to think that he was born in the 
city of New York. 

As may well be imagined, this intelligence, and the i)leas- 
ing uncertainty existing in our minds respecting the welfare 
of our friends and homes, considerably accelerated our desire 
to get home again ; and we pushed vigorously down the 
Fredericksburgh pike, breathing prayers, the reverse of be- 
nevolent, for the welfare of the rioters — until we could 
attend to them in person. Under any other circumstances 
it would have been a beautiful march ; although oppres- 
sively hot in the early part of the day, the weather after- 
ward was all that could be desired. The road was wide, 
smooth — tremenduusly hard, to be sure, for feet, as sore and 
badly shod as ours, and in its windings through the passes 
of the South Mountain, traversing a few more hills than 
were strictly agreeable — yet more beautiful scenery than it 
presents to the eye of the traveler can rarely be found. 

That country is all historic ground. Those white boards 
on the right, " covering many a rood," marked the last rest- 
ing-places of the thousands of unknown heroes who sealed 
their patriotism with tlieir blood in the battle of South 
Mountain ; and all along the stone fences and among the trees 
on the left, the frequent bullet-marks tell how hot the con- 
flict raged a year ago ; for every foot of land for twenty miles 
around has been a battle-ground for the contending forces. 

About sun-down we arrived at Frederick City, a bustling 
little place, full of soldiers, and with a large sprinkling of 
the fair sex, who, contrary to the experience of last year, 
loyally applauded the passing troops. Many would class 



44 THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 

it as a " one-horse town," but to us it appeared a little 
paradise. It was a place where you could buy things, 
and although our predecessors turned uji their aristocratic 
noses at the food there procurable, our only grievance was 
that we could not get any of it. Expecting to start directly 
for home, the division, without halting, continued its march 
through the city to within a quarter of a mile of the rail- 
road depot, which, for some unknown reason, is situated 
about three miles from the city, but, as usual, we were 
doomed to disappointment ; whether the cars were ready 
or not, I cannot say ; but, after a long consultation among 
the officers, it was settled that we could go no further, and 
at about eight o'clock we went into camp ; having completed 
a march of over twenty- five miles since breakfast, with little 
or no straggling. This, we consider, is doing pretty well 
for militia. 

The next day we "loafed," resting under the trees and de- 
vouring the stock in trade of the sutlers who had come down 
to see us, restlessly waiting all day under orders to be ready 
to start at a moment's notice. 

At about six p. m., the Thirty-seventh and Eleventh struck 
camp and marched off for the cars, amid the cheering of the 
whole division ; but no orders came for us, and after waiting 
till half-past nine p. m., we went to sleep. At exactly eleven 
o'clock an orderly dashed up : " The regiment was to take the 
cars forthwith." The word passed from mouth to mouth like 
lightning, and in less than no time the men were awakened, 
formed, and marching off "for home." 

We had to go precisely a quarter of a mile and get into the 
cars which had been standing all day on the track ; and how 
long can any outsider, unacquainted with military manoeuvi-es, 
imagine it took to get us on board ? Not an hour, nor half an 
hour, but /ye hours and and a half, by the watch, elapsed 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 45 

from the time we started till we <;ot into those cars ; and as it 
was raining in torrents all the while, it is not difficult to im- 
agine the benedictions that were freely bestowed on every one 
supposed to be concerned in the matter. When Ave had 
gone about a hundred yards from camp the order came to 
"halt." After a little time Ave Avere told to "rest." See- 
ing no signs of a movement, and a heavy rain having come 
up, the boys unrolled their rubber blankets, and the cooler 
hands Avi'apped themseh-es up and lay doAvu to slcc]) in 
the middle of the ri)ad, while the others took it out in 
swearing. In about an hour "Fall in!" Avas heard. We 
woke up, shook ourselves, and marched another hundred 
yards, where the same scene was repeated. Marching off the 
third time, we turned away from the main road and struck along 
the field to the depot, thinking Ave Avere off this time, sure. 
Vain thought ! When we got on the bank, overlooking the 
railroad track, not a car was to be seen, and there Ave stood in 
the midst of a drenching rain, on a slippery clay slope Avhere 
it was impossible to sit down, tired and sleepy as men 
could well be, for nearly two hours before the cars, at'ter a 
little eternity of backing and switching, Avere pronounced 
ready for us. The moment the cars Avere reached every one 
thrcAV himself on the floor, and, in spite of Avet clothes, 
dirty floors, and leaky roofs, kncAv nothing more till daylight 
dawned on us entering Baltimore. 

With the mention of the word Baltimore, tlic word hrcuh- 
fast is intimately associated in our minds. 

Oh! that first good civilized breakfast, with forks antl 
chairs, and the other appliances of civilized life — the pen 
fails in the endeavor to do justice to that rei)ast ! 

Yet in spite of the threats that were made of thr (|u;m(i- 
ties that Avould be eaten ; and although it Avas near one 



46 



THE LAST CAMPAIGN OF THE 



o'clock Lefore we sat down, we were disgusted to find our 
systems so disorganized by a habit of taking breakfast late 
in the afternoon, and omitting the other meals altogether, 
that half the things that were ordered could not be disposed 
of ; in fact, it was at least three days after our return to 
the" bosom of our families, before we could manafre three 
regular meals a day, without feeling uncomfortable ; but this 
sensation soon wore off, and when it did, ample amends were 
made by all, for past abstinence. 

From Baltimore to New York was a short and uneventful 
journey, and on the 18th day of July we found ourselves 
swinging up Broadway, glad to be home once more, but 
• sorry enough to think that we were denied the pleasure of a 
shot at the rioters in general, and our worthy ex-mayor in 
particular. And although a long and aggravating tour of 
duty at home was still before us, here ended our eventful 
campaign. 

It has been a favorite argument against the militia organi- 
zations, to decry them as Broadway troops, good for playing 
soldier, but who would be found wanting if subjected to the 
stern realities of a soldier's life. This test has now been 
made, and the New York militia can proudly point to their 
record. 

Marching one hundred and seventy miles in less than 
three weeks, in the most inclement weather, through moun- 
tain passes and over abominable roads, on ten days' rations, 
without a change of clothing, in expectation of an attack at 
any moment (our regiment alone forming line of battle over 
nineteen times), they j)oint with pride to the thanks tender- 
ed to them by General Meade in his official report, and claim 
that they have done all that could be expected of them — 
if not more ; and although smarting under the usage they 
received from those they went to protect^ they stand ready, if 



TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 47 

an occasion of similar emergency eliould again arise, to meet 
again tiie same hardshi])s, and undergo the same labors; but 
the next time ^ve hope to bo directed by generals who know a 
little about the details of their business, and will not have to 
learn at our expense. 

It is an elementary maxim that soldiers will not serve with 
any credit under a man they do not respect ; and when they 
find their leaders ignorant of the first rules of militaiy life, 
obliged to ask information from subordinates, and constantly 
sneered at as ignoramuses by those who do know what they 
are about, they speedily become discontented and suspicious, 
and in that condition are worse than useless. 

Our Colonel and other officers had learned their duty in 
previous campaigns; and by the manner in which they handled 
their men, and the care with which they regarded their wel- 
fare, earned at once the gratitude and respect of their com- 
mand. And this remark is also true of such men as Colonel 
Koome of the Thirty-seventh, and Colonel Maidhoff of the 
Eleventh. But what would have happened to the militia 
generally, and to our brigade in particular, if it had not been 
for their regimental officers, it is difficult to foresee. When 
we think of what did take place, and what might liave taken 
place, the New York militia fervently pray, 

" From long marches, wet weather, short commons, and 
militia generals, good Lord deliver us." 



Apr 1864 




THE 



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